Chelsea in disgrace after Bradford City pull off massive FA Cup shockChelsea 2 - 4 Bradford CityGary Cahill 21
Nascimento Ramires 38
Jon Stead 41
Filipe Morais 75
Andrew Halliday 82
Mark Yeates 90 +3:01
Andy Halliday celebrates scoring Bradford's third goal against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
This was the real deal – David brutally slaying Goliath. And comfortably, too. Chelsea, the Premier League leaders, swarmed into an early 2-0 lead, which was pegged back to 2-1 by half-time but then, inexplicably, they collapsed in the second half.
Bradford, seventh in League One and separated from Chelsea by 49 places, scored two late goals to take a numbing 3-2 lead. Did they retreat to hold on for a famous victory? Did they heck.
As Chelsea huffed and puffed, suddenly realising that their quest for an unprecedented “quadruple” was going pear-shaped, the Bantams added a fourth goal in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Jon Stead, a vibrant force up front all afternoon, squared the ball for the onrushing Mark Yeates, a Bradford substitute, and he despatched it with aplomb. Salt was rubbed mercilessly into the gaping wound.
José Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, had said that it would be a “disgrace” if Chelsea lost – for only the third time in 34 matches this season. And it was … Never mind that they fielded only two of the team that had held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final at Anfield on Tuesday night. The others were resting for the return leg at Stamford Bridge this Tuesday.
Saturday’s starting lineup still included first-team regulars Oscar, Gary Cahill and César Azpilicueta. Ramires, Didier Drogba and Mikel John Obi are pretty decent performers, too. But, despite an encouraging start, Chelsea were ultimately brushed aside. “What we’ve done is slowly sinking in,” Phil Parkinson, the Bradford manager, said. “When we were all on the pitch celebrating at the end, it did feel a bit surreal. But what a great performance from our lads.
“To come to the league leaders and score four goals is a great feeling. It will be remembered in Bradford for a long time and in the rest of the country as well. It’s put Bradford on the map again.
“We were disciplined and always carried a threat going forward. If we’d retreated into our own half for 90 minutes, I wouldn’t be sitting here as the winning manager. We showed great character in coming back from 2-0 down. Our heads never dropped.”
Parkinson had always hoped to claim another major scalp – as Bradford did three times on their run to the League Cup final in 2013. They memorably defeated Premier League Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa on their way to the final, in which their adventure came to a bumpy end in a 5-0 defeat against Swansea City at Wembley Stadium.
Playing in the FA Cup fourth round for the first time in 15 years, Bradford made a bright start. The former Chelsea youth-team midfielder Billy Knott worked tirelessly in behind the strikers, Stead and James Hanson.
But Bradford were breached in the 21st minute when Oscar slung over a corner and Cahill cleverly flicked it in on the volley with his right leg. Bradford’s thousands of fans behind the goal at the Shed End fell silent – as they did again in the 38th minute when Chelsea stretched their lead.
Ramires was the architect, winning the ball in midfield, and he strode forward purposefully. After exchanging passes with Mohamed Salah, he then guided the ball past the exposed Bradford goalkeeper, Ben Williams.
Bradford were far from done, though, and reduced the gap just three minutes later. Stead jockeyed on the edge of the area before unleashing a fierce shot that Petr Cech could only help on its way into the top right-hand corner of his net.
In the second half, Chelsea posed rather than probed. But few could have expected the dramatic finale. The Bradford winger Filipe Morais slid in the equaliser in the 75th minute after good work by Knott at the near post. Then Andy Halliday gave Bradford a stunning lead in the 82nd minute with a firm shot from Stead’s precise pass.
Chelsea, seven-times winners of the competition, seemed out – and Yeates made it reality when he tucked in Bradford’s fourth, from another slide-rule Stead pass, in stoppage time.
Chelsea’s quadruple was never on, anyway. Mourninho and company may now have to settle for the Capital One Cup, Premier League and Champions League treble. Overcoming Liverpool on Tuesday is now imperative.
Guardian
